Hugo First Part 2 of 3
Who: Hugo
Where: Storage, three months after the launch of JMC Blue Dwarf
<Snip>
Emerging from stasis Hugo ventures his way around the ship
recollecting the events that led him to be held in a pod for the
last few years.
After discovering a scanning device in storage (not the ones with
the swirly thing) while looking for an A.I. Chip in one of the
crates, Hugo got caught up in banter with the device. After a few
hysterical minutes of back chatting to his new found friend, Hugo
found what he was searching for in the corner of his eye and
salvaged the chip. Thoughts filled his head, a thoughtless wonder
filled his mind and he ventured back towards the scanning device.
<end snip>
The walk over seemed to last five minutes. The mechanical arms, old
robot heads, it was almost like a maze of junk and boxes as Hugo
proceeded back to the annoying device he was talking to just two
minutes ago. After almost tripping on a gas canister and slipping in
several pools of oil he started to walk over to the device and
started to wonder if it still functioned correctly. "Hugo, I'm
alone. The others are still dead" Hugo looked on unconvinced at its
plea "Electrical storms, radiation, chainsaws, it cleared up by
lunchtime".
A suicidal machine? Great, that's all he needed thought Hugo "I
still work" Hugo looked down at it "prove it!". A slight pause
rendered the room silent before the machine lit up like a Christmas
tree. "Bio-scan readout suggests the presence of a life
form". "yeah, me" replied Hugo "No Hugo, sensors definitely suggest
something in the local vicinity. Scaled skin exterior, central
nervous system, limitless capabilities, its functionÂ… survival"
Shocked he moved his eyes around for a hammer, an axe, something he
could use as a weapon "Height, three inches" Hugo grinned at his
feet, he could tread on it. "what is it?" The device paused for a
second "Its an orange".
The fascination with an orange was far beyond the grasp of Hugo's
mind, he could only stand there and laugh with curiosity "it's a
perfectly developed organism Hugo. It is!" Hugo pushed the machine
to carry on "The orange is a clone Hugo, spreading its' spores in
warm dry and populated spaces, preferably a glass bowl. The grape,
the banana , they are all bi-products of this process. The orange is
also a very intelligent life form" Willingly looking on, Hugo
couldn't help but chuckle "When the orange is ready to move on it
squirts some juice in the earth host when bitten into, so it can be
thrown away where its skin emits a burst of rocket fuel and return
to its colony". "and why would an orange be here?" Hugo grinned "It
wants vengeance Hugo, revenge for its friend you sucked to death
last Tuesday".
Hugo laughed and shook his head as he went to turn around to face
the exit. His mind telling him to go but his feet wanted to give
way. He started to slide across the floor and slowly felt his weight
slam to the ground back first, knocking the valve off the gas
canister and twisting his ankle. He had slipped on some hydraulic
oil, probably leaking from one of the neighbouring crates. The
pressure from the tank had shot the valve through the device. It was
in on the floor now, nothing wrong besides the great big gaping hole
that was once the middle of the device. Sparks were flying, for a
small machine it was fiery and had an explosive personality, but at
least it went out with a big hit. After collecting his thoughts Hugo
started to smell the gas and staggered to his feet, he knew what was
going to happen; when the gas reaches the sparks, BOOM! So he looked
at the door, with a limp, and ran.